The record was set during the freezing winter of 1981/82. The following day there was no mention of record-setting Braemar.

The Banchory youngsters loved the snow, sledging down the slopes into Bellfield Park

Scene in Union Street that morning

In Aberdeen on the same day the mercury dropped to -17C, with the area around Inverurie hitting -20C

Instead, coverage focused on the 2,000 calls received by the council from residents pleading for help – typically at this time the council would have only received 20 calls.

Staff were on call to help deal with frozen pipes and flooded homes over the weekend.

Buses and schools across the region were hit by chaos, with around 3,000 pupils missing school due to floods and heating failures.

Much of the UK was covered in snow during the freezing winter of 1981/82

Elsewhere in the UK streets in Birmingham were shut over fears 6ft long icicles could fall on passersby.

The Met Office’s original summary for the day said: “After a mostly dry night, Northern Ireland and much of Scotland had a dry, bright and frosty start, though there were snow and hail showers in the extreme north of Scotland.

“It was very cold with severe overnight frost.

“The temperature at Braemar, in the Grampians, equalled the record, (set at Braemar in February 1895) for the lowest officially recorded temperature in Britain (-27.2C).”

Icicles hung from the buildings along the main street of Braemar

The north-east also holds the record for the lowest ever daytime temperature, with the mercury never rising past -15.9C at Fyvie Castle on December 29 1995.